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Friday, 12 February 2016

Pink Fir Apple Potatoes Fried in Duck Fat

Well this is hardly a recipe, and it is definitely not breaking any new culinary ground. Potatoes fried in some sort of fat are almost certainly the most consumed vegetable in North America, and an awful lot of other places too. This is more of a comment on how much carefully sourced, good quality ingredients matter. They matter so much.

Duck fat is famous for producing fabulous fried potatoes, and Pink Fir Apple is a potato made for fried perfection. This is the time to break out your fancy pink or Malden or Guerande salt too, I suppose, although plain old table salt is in fact just fine.

I get to like Pink Fir Apple more and more. It stores so well, its flavour is great, and it turns out, according to Rebsie Fairholm in her book The Lost Art of Potato Breeding, that it is one of the few modern potato varieties around that does not have T-type cytoplasm, meaning it won't pass on male sterility to its offspring. Many people find Pink Fir Apple pretty shy of producing seed, but it has generally produced a few berries each year in my garden so I am looking forward to trying some breeding projects using it as the maternal parent.

Wash and trim the potatoes, and cut them into 1/2 cm (1/4") slices. Put them in a pot with water to cover, and turn the heat to high. Time for 10 minutes, during which time they should come to a boil and boil for several minutes, then drain them until very dry.

Heat the duck fat in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat; the temperature at which you would cook pancakes or eggs. Add the well-drained potatoes and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until touched with brown and the fat is mostly absorbed. Sprinkle with a little salt at the beginning of the cooking time, and season with a bit more and some pepper before turning them out onto a plate to serve.